Meet the Metamorphs

 

Meet the Metamorphs 

                                                                         By Tom Wachunas

 

   “…Strange fascination, fascinating me…Ah, changes are taking the pace I’m going through…Time may change me, But I can’t trace time…  - lyrics from “Changes” by David Bowie, 1971

Metamorphosis: a change of physical form, structure, or substance especially by supernatural means / a striking alteration in appearance, character, or circumstances  - Merriam-Webster

 

   EXHIBIT: Dust to Diamonds, new works by Erika Katherine, at Patina Arts Centre, 324 Cleveland Avenue N.W., in downtown Canton / Viewing hours are Thursdays Noon to 8 p.m. and Saturdays Noon to 9 p.m. / Through August 20, 2022

   First, here are some sentences I excerpted from Erika Katherin’e artist statement for this exhibit:

  “ Erika Katherine's newest collection of work explores the idea of time as pressure. Through intentionality, time itself feeds us, grows us, and makes us the creative beings we are. Diamonds are formed under pressure,… From nothingness, a beautiful stone is formed… Inspired by her love for fantasy, dark art, and surrealism, Erika has created a whimsical aesthetic…featuring the cute, the creepy, and the strange… character sculptures and surreal worlds from found objects that were once considered trash, polymer/paper clays, and epoxy resin….Dust to Diamonds… features work that has been molded by time. Scavenging through her studio at The HUB, collecting pieces and parts, trinkets, found objects, and adding in a combination of resin and polymer clays. Erika Katherine works to transform it all into something new and beautiful…Created from nothingness… and an abundance of magic, this exhibition aims to incite wonder.”

   Wonder indeed. As in, I wondered a lot about what her exquisitely crafted objects – particularly the smallish “character” sculptures - might signify exactly. Interestingly enough, there are no titles posted with the pieces, which can be useful (though not always, to be sure) in deciphering meaning.  Then again, being left to our own devices in that regard needn’t be a bad thing. In fact it can, for those willing to take time to look intentionally, actually incite a collaboration, a completion. The artist makes an object out of found, repurposed stuff, and the viewer makes something of the found art, so to speak. A partnership.

   Erika Katherine’s art – and for that matter, anything we call art -  isn’t really born from absolute nothingness. Art is always a… somethingness, taken from a somewhereness which the artist transubstantiates into a… something-elseness. In that sense, artists don’t “create” in the grand theological sense of the word so much as they impose metamorphoses. 

   What, then, are we looking at here? Pearly-sheened oddments. Glossy states of mind, at once whimsical, mystical and macabre.  Effigies, totems, incarnations, avatars. These curios from elsewhere all pop with luxuriant ornamental details and luscious color.

   There might be a saga here, a bizarre fairy tale. Something like this, perhaps: Once upon a sometime, blindfolded Princess Antenna came out of the mouth of Kingskull Gold Eyes to find her wandering misfit friends so they could help save her beloved horned pet, Watchyacallit, from being crushed by the evil Insomnia Tower harnessed to the poor thing’s back. Or not.

   OK so that may not be your take-away. In any case, see for yourself. Make time to put some pressure on your imagination. And while you’re at it, name those metamorphs. Save Watchyacallit!